Product
Our products, Areca leaf plates are made from fallen Palm Leaf. These leaves or sheaths are collected from farms, pressure-cleaned and heat pressed into desired shapes and sizes.These plates are
Biodegradable and compostable
Natural and sturdy
Chemical-free
Microwavable and Oven Safe
Environment friendly
Problem and Impact
City of Parramatta is conducting Seven major events in 2019. All events are catered by food trucks and food stalls which use disposable plates and cutlery. City of parramatta council has a good guideline for disposables which requires caterers to use compostable plates and cutlery. However, the sugarcane bagasse plates still needs commercial composting as opposed to Areca Leaf plates. Also, though the waste from these events is sorted onsite into Organic, co-mingled recycling, and general category, people usually don't throw waste into the right bins. Each event creates at least one truck load of waste which usually ends up in landfills as Australia has only Nine commercial composting facilities.
Premjith Herman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
I established Natural Panaa along with a Co-founder Misha Ahmed. I am passionate about sustainable initiatives and always thinks of creative ways of using alternatives to reduce plastic and protect our environment. ‘War on waste’ the documentary in ABC was a turning point to understand the real impact plastic is having on the environment and thus Natural Panaa was established.
Misha Ahmed, Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer
Misha started her career as a finance and communication officer at the age of 19 with a not-for-profit organisation in India. She has been working since and has raised herself to a position of managing forty people in a public organisation. She is very organised and likes to follow a schedule and a plan for every little event in life.
We have a boy, Yohan, who is 4 years old and a daughter, Reyah, who is 4 months. I did a bit of research into alternative to disposable plastic plates and cutlery and found a great solution Areca leaf products which is currently not being used widely because distribution has been unaffordable.
Progress
We partnered with Catalysr and completed their 6-month pre-accelerator program for start ups. Established Natural Panaa with the help of Catalysr and developed a network of supporters and mentors through Catalysr.
I went to India and met 21 small scale manufacturers to understand the raw material, manufacturing process of product, the logistics and the market. We have chosen two manufacturers, Harish and Chitharanjan, who were willing and ready to back us through our journey.
A bit about our manufacturers:
Harish Kumar is the younger son of four children. His father passed away when he was young and he worked on the farm. He is now married and the couple have a beautiful girl child, with a dotting grandmother following the child and taking care of her. Harish took up the opportunity of investing and working with the by-product of Areca leaves since they always ended up as mulch.
Chitharanjan worked as a manager in Mangalore city for a while before he came back home and setup his six machine assembly for a small sized unit. He spent time in workshops, training programs and understanding the machinery so he could fully benefit from using the best technology in the market. He lives in a joint family with his mother, grandparents, brother, wife and children. The venture was successful and the local market has given them enough exposure for their dream of investing in the international market. But his business had to take a stop when his ailing mother was hospitalised and he had to tend to her care.
We have now set up a company in India to help us with procurement and export of Areca leaf products to Australia. Our first shipment with 125K plates arrived last month and we are ready to provide this alternative solution to reduce single-use plastic in Australia.
Partners
We are partnering with Catalysr, Two boys in Saris (caterer), Hari Om Foods (wholesaler) and Sydney Murugan Stores (grocer) for supply and sale of our products. We have approached Maloney hotel group in Sydney city and they are considering to use it during special events. We have also joined Pitch for Good Parramatta campaign and have partnered with City of Parramatta council and Start some good.
Check us out at - Natural Panaa